1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to hosiery and, more particularly, to a method for manufacturing pantyhose efficiently year round.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Historically, the demand for pantyhose varies greatly throughout the year as the weather and seasonal clothing variances of the public changes. To the manufacturers of pantyhose, this makes it very difficult for scheduling consistent manufacturing patterns as for part of the season demand greatly outstrips supply while during the non-peak seasons supply is much greater then the immediate demand. As a result, manufacturing facilities are running either at 100% of efficiency or at a much-reduced rate. Workforce requirements greatly fluctuate for meeting this demand which makes it difficult for a manufacturer to maintain a constant size workforce without mass hirings and firings every year.
Another problem with the cyclical demand rates is that demand cannot be met during the peak seasons. Each manufacturing facility is only able to produce a given amount of garments which is often less than the demand. The production quantities that each facility is able to produce is usually dictated by the boarding process which causes a bottleneck in the production process.
Finally, any new system of manufacturing hosiery must be compatible with existing equipment in order to keep capital costs reasonable.
Thus, there remains a need for a new and improved method for manufacturing pantyhose which is efficient year round while, at the same time, can be used without extensively modifying existing hosiery facilities.